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TMP: Bitterblossom Continued
Posted On 02/25/2008 20:50:21 by reubs11 - Read 2173 time(s)

In a recent blog I wrote, TCGplayer user concede2me commented that we should revisit the discussion on Bitterblossom. Perhaps mostly he was chiding me for being "pretty bad at magic (in almost every way)," but regardless I think it's work talking about again.

 

A side note: this is in no way a slam on concede2me. indeed, he has always backed up his arguments with solid fact, even back when I wrote for a certain other website and I appreciate him not simply accepting everything I say as fact to keep me in my place.

 

When the card Bitterblossom was first spoiled, I really liked it. No joke. I thought it would be really good. At first.

 

But I could not find a deck in which it would operate well. Rogues, the U/B Faeries of the time, etc. It wasn't good in my testing and I regarded it as chaff, much like exciting cards that had come out in previous sets that failed to live up to thier potential like Pact of Negation or Galepowder Mage.

 

I then wrote a blog called "Bitterblossom = Smokestack." You can read it (and the comments that ensued) here.

 

Fast forward a few weeks or so. The new U/B Faeries deck is much different than the pre-Morningtide versions or the ones that I had built and, as a result, Bitterblossom is very strong in them. In addition, it seems to work well in the U/G Rock deck that has been popping up.

 

I have to say that I was very wrong on this one. As of right now, Bitterblossom is one of the top 5 Morningtide rares in Standard right now.

 

I'm not apologizing for my previous blog, just admitting how dumb I look now. As a writer, I wouldn't be very good if I only predicted that cards like Countryside Crusher would be popular and cards like Indominable Ancients wouldn't see a lot of constructed play. As a result, I look foolish in retrospect. Indeed, I have made predicitons that subsequently made me look dumb like this before. On an episode of The Magic Show, I predicted that Aven Mindcensor would make the Martyr-Tron deck playable again. I, obviously, was wrong.

 

But I have been right just about as often as I have been wrong. In that same episode of The Magic Show, I (and my friend Nick Miller, who correctly predicted that Mindcensor wouldn't make Martyr playable again) predicted that Horizon Canopy would be the most popular of the Future Sight lands. We were slammed for that prediction. We have, however, been mostly correct on that prediction.

 

I am not a professional player. Someday I hope to be, but I am nowhere close right now. It just so happens that I have a soapbox and a bullhorn (so to speak) that make my opinions much more heard than many other players of my skill level.

 

I am not a bad player. You all can go look at my DCI page. See? I'm not terrible. I'm just not a great player, and some missteps I have made (such as my failed performance at the most recent Standard Open and blogs like the original Bitterblossom list) are particularly visible and open to scrutiny.

 

I will not change the way I write, you can believe that. I will make unpopular predictions and outlandish comments and start discussions. I wouldn't be a very good writer if I didn't, or nearly as popular of a blogger as I currently am.

 

People make mistakes. I make my fair share.

 

Chalk this one up as "Mistake #374: Bitterblossom doesn't, as previously reported, suck."

 

Reubs

 

 

Tags: Tmp The Main Phase Bitterblossom Standard Faeries

Related to: Magic: the Gathering



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Viewing 1 - 10 out of 10 Comments

From: mezzobendigoth
03/01/2008 13:28:02

With Urborg in play, River of Tears is actually worse than Island. The only reason it was always played in block Teachings was that bad dual land no dual land.

As they go, River of Tears is a pretty poor land, and only playable because of the colour wording. If it gave only black mana on the opp's turn it would have been nigh unplayable.



From: kcolloran
02/28/2008 00:15:25

I'm not saying you shouldn't run them. I did run them. If you've got them they're better than islands. But what I am saying is that they're not a lot better than islands. On your opponents turn they're worse than islands. And on your turn they're not going to be used for black mana that often. And in a meta with a lot of blood moon effects they're actually worse.

 And as to why you'd want black mana on your opponets turn:

1. Spot removal

It's pretty hard to deal with something like treetop village without spot removal. Spot removal also allows you to kill something and still keep mana up to counter stuff. There wasn't a lot of it in the deck to be sure, but it was there.

2. Teachings itself

If you want to EOT flashback teachings you're gonna need black mana.


 


And if you've got Urborg in play then it's the same as an island. It's not bad, but it certainly isn't anything spectacular in a deck like teachings.

From: third_place
02/27/2008 22:06:04

"River of Tears isn't very good in teachings"

orly?

http://www.deckcheck.net/list.php?deck=U%2FB+Teachings

And that doesn't even include block constructed, where it was considered heresy to not have 4 copies of the land. The reason it was so good in those decks was because it's an island that helps you to cast Damnations. I don't think there was such a thing as a (good) UB Teachings build that didn't run river of tears.



From: tomjoad
02/27/2008 19:36:46

When I played Teachings (which was for, like, 8 rounds this one afternoon last year) River of Tears was sick. Why on Earth would I need B on my opponents turn? That's when you need 1UUU. Anyway, Urborg made sure it always tapped for B.

 

Also, I'm pretty sure Bitterblossom is the new Ponder, which is to say that it's a 4 of in every list a make these days (including 1.x U/B Tron, which I love). 

From: kcolloran
02/27/2008 10:32:49
River of Tears isn't very good in teachings, or at least not instant heavy versions of it. I know with my version of the deck I was pretty much trying to avoid ever playing anything on my turn. And since it can't make black mana on your opponents turn, it's not that helpful.


From: reubs11
02/26/2008 21:59:24
But Horizon Canopy is still better :)

From: reubs11
02/26/2008 21:59:04

This is true, Third Place. We totally underestimated River of Tears. This is mostly due to the fact that, when we filmed it, we thought it read "T: Add U to your mana pool. If you played River of Tears this turn, add B to your mana pool instead" as opposed to "T: Add U to your mana pool. If you played a land this turn, add B to your mana pool instead."

 

But right out of the gate nobody really liked River of Tears, so we chalked it up to good luck and kept it as our tagline. 

From: third_place
02/26/2008 14:31:31

Actually, the obvious 'most playable FST Dual' is River of Tears. Teachings variants over two constructed formats, Mannequin, Faeries, Reanimator, UB Pickles, etc.

 

And you said it was an $8 island!



From: kcolloran
02/25/2008 22:30:37
You might not be the greatest player, but most of us aren't. But you're a real funny dude. I'd rather have more of your type of work than another boring pro walking us through his list in some dry manner. I'm looking forward to the next video.


From: Concede2me
02/25/2008 22:09:21

Wow, you actually did it.  I think I’m going to try and post something with zero negativity now because I've been kind of a prick.

 

I really need to stop making personal attacks.  Aside from it being a bad thing to do in general, it’s not fair for me to sit behind the protection of my anonymity while throwing various insults at you.

 

You make a good argument; you aren’t a bad player I suppose.  You just have bad ideas.  That does not make you different from any other magic player.  What makes you different is you put your thoughts out there for people like me to scrutinize.  Admitting you were wrong about bitterblossom also means you haven’t hit your ceiling because you are still willing to learn. 

 

That’s about as nice as I get.  I'll try to be civil if I respond to your blogs in the future.  Maybe I'll even agree with you one of these days.

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